[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 8, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30097-30098]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-12609]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Tanya Newlove, N.P.; Decision and Order
On February 18, 2025, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Tanya Newlove, N.P.,
of Peoria, Illinois (Registrant). Request for Final Agency Action
(RFAA), Exhibit (RFAAX) 1, at 1, 4. The OSC proposed the revocation of
Registrant's DEA Certificate of Registration (COR) No. MD3642077,
alleging that Registrant is ``currently without authority to . . .
handle controlled substances in the State of Illinois, the state in
which [she is] registered with DEA.'' Id. at 2 (citing 21 U.S.C.
824(a)(3)).
The OSC notified Registrant of her right to file a written request
for hearing, and that if she failed to file such a request, she would
be deemed to have waived her right to a hearing and be in default. Id.
at 2-3 (citing 21 CFR 1301.43). Here, Registrant did not request a
hearing. RFAA, at 2.\1\ ``A default, unless excused, shall be deemed to
constitute a waiver of the registrant's/applicant's right to a hearing
and an admission of the factual allegations of the [OSC].'' 21 CFR
1301.43(e).
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\1\ Based on the Government's submissions in its RFAA dated
April 9, 2025, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on
Registrant was proper. The included declaration from a DEA Diversion
Investigator (DI) indicates that on March 3, 2025, the DI personally
served Registrant with a copy of the OSC. RFAAX 2, at 1.
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Further, ``[i]n the event that a registrant . . . is deemed to be
in default . . . DEA may then file a request for final agency action
with the Administrator, along with a record to support its request. In
such circumstances, the Administrator may enter a default final order
pursuant to [21 CFR] 1316.67.'' Id. at 1301.43(f)(1). Here, the
Government has requested final agency action based on Registrant's
default pursuant to 21 CFR 1301.43(c) and (f), 1301.46. RFAA, at 1; see
also 21 CFR 1316.67.
Findings of Fact
The Agency finds that, in light of Registrant's default, the
factual allegations in the OSC are deemed admitted. According to the
OSC, Registrant's Illinois registered professional nurse license,
advanced practice registered nurse license, and advanced practice nurse
controlled substance license expired on June 30, 2024. RFAAX 1, at 2.
According to Illinois online records, of which the Agency takes
official notice,\2\ Registrant's Illinois licenses have a status of
``Not Renewed.'' Illinois DFPR License Search, https://online-dfpr.micropact.com/lookup/licenselookup.aspx (last visited date of
signature of this Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant
is not licensed as a practitioner in Illinois, the
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state in which she is registered with DEA.\3\
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\2\ Under the Administrative Procedure Act, an agency ``may take
official notice of facts at any stage in a proceeding--even in the
final decision.'' United States Department of Justice, Attorney
General's Manual on the Administrative Procedure Act 80 (1947) (Wm.
W. Gaunt & Sons, Inc., Reprint 1979).
\3\ Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 556(e), ``[w]hen an agency decision
rests on official notice of a material fact not appearing in the
evidence in the record, a party is entitled, on timely request, to
an opportunity to show the contrary.'' The material fact here is
that Registrant, as of the date of this decision, is not licensed as
a nurse in Illinois. Accordingly, Registrant may dispute the
Agency's finding by filing a properly supported motion for
reconsideration of findings of fact within fifteen calendar days of
the date of this Order. Any such motion and response shall be filed
and served by email to the other party and to the DEA Office of the
Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration, at
[email protected].
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Discussion
Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3), the Attorney General may suspend
or revoke a registration issued under 21 U.S.C. 823 ``upon a finding
that the registrant . . . has had his State license or registration
suspended . . . [or] revoked . . . by competent State authority and is
no longer authorized by State law to engage in the . . . dispensing of
controlled substances.''
With respect to a practitioner, DEA has also long held that the
possession of authority to dispense controlled substances under the
laws of the state in which a practitioner engages in professional
practice is a fundamental condition for obtaining and maintaining a
practitioner's registration. Gonzales v. Oregon, 546 U.S. 243, 270
(2006) (``The Attorney General can register a physician to dispense
controlled substances `if the applicant is authorized to dispense . . .
controlled substances under the laws of the State in which he
practices.' . . . The very definition of a `practitioner' eligible to
prescribe includes physicians `licensed, registered, or otherwise
permitted, by the United States or the jurisdiction in which he
practices' to dispense controlled substances. Sec. 802(21).''). The
Agency has applied these principles consistently. See, e.g., James L.
Hooper, M.D., 76 FR 71371, 71372 (2011), pet. for rev. denied, 481 F.
App'x 826 (4th Cir. 2012); Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D., 43 FR 27616,
27617 (1978).\4\
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\4\ This rule derives from the text of two provisions of the
Controlled Substances Act (CSA). First, Congress defined the term
``practitioner'' to mean ``a physician . . . or other person
licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted, by . . . the
jurisdiction in which he practices . . . , to distribute, dispense,
. . . [or] administer . . . a controlled substance in the course of
professional practice.'' 21 U.S.C. 802(21). Second, in setting the
requirements for obtaining a practitioner's registration, Congress
directed that ``[t]he Attorney General shall register practitioners
. . . if the applicant is authorized to dispense . . . controlled
substances under the laws of the State in which he practices.'' 21
U.S.C. 823(g)(1). Because Congress has clearly mandated that a
practitioner possess state authority in order to be deemed a
practitioner under the CSA, DEA has held repeatedly that revocation
of a practitioner's registration is the appropriate sanction
whenever he is no longer authorized to dispense controlled
substances under the laws of the state in which he practices. See,
e.g., James L. Hooper, M.D., 76 FR at 71371-72; Sheran Arden Yeates,
M.D., 71 FR 39130, 39131 (2006); Dominick A. Ricci, M.D., 58 FR
51104, 51105 (1993); Bobby Watts, M.D., 53 FR 11919, 11920 (1988);
Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D., 43 FR at 27617.
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According to Illinois statute, ``dispense'' means ``to deliver a
controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or
pursuant to the lawful order of a prescriber, including the
prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling, or compounding
necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery.'' 720 ILCS 570/
102(p) (West 2025). Further, a ``practitioner'' means an ``advanced
practice registered nurse, . . . registered nurse, . . . or other
person licensed, registered, or otherwise lawfully permitted by . . .
[Illinois] to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to,
[or] administer . . . a controlled substance in the course of
professional practice or research.'' Id. at 570/102(kk).\5\
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\5\ In this case, Registrant was specifically licensed as an
advanced practice registered nurse authorized to distribute Schedule
III through V controlled substances in Illinois. See 720 ILCS 570/
303.05(a)(2) (West 2025).
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Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant is
not a currently licensed practitioner in Illinois. As discussed above,
a nurse must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a controlled
substance in Illinois. Thus, because Registrant's nursing licenses are
expired in Illinois and, therefore, she is not currently authorized to
handle controlled substances in Illinois, Registrant is not eligible to
maintain a DEA registration in Illinois. Accordingly, the Agency will
order that Registrant's DEA registration be revoked.
Order
Pursuant to 28 CFR 0.100(b) and the authority vested in me by 21
U.S.C. 824(a), I hereby revoke DEA Certificate of Registration No.
MD3642077 issued to Tanya Newlove, N.P. Further, pursuant to 28 CFR
0.100(b) and the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C. 823(g)(1), I
hereby deny any pending applications of Tanya Newlove, N.P., to renew
or modify this registration, as well as any other pending application
of Tanya Newlove, N.P., for additional registration in Illinois.
This Order is effective August 6, 2025.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
July 1, 2025, by Acting Administrator Robert J. Murphy. That document
with the original signature and date is maintained by DEA. For
administrative purposes only, and in compliance with requirements of
the Office of the Federal Register, the undersigned DEA Federal
Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to sign and submit the
document in electronic format for publication, as an official document
of DEA. This administrative process in no way alters the legal effect
of this document upon publication in the Federal Register.
Heather Achbach,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Drug Enforcement Administration.
[FR Doc. 2025-12609 Filed 7-7-25; 8:45 am]
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